Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Cupid and Psyche

After reading Cupid and Psyche, it seems that it proves one of my points that I made in a previous blog about how the gods and goddesses are as human as humans are but have more power. They are struck with the same emotions as people are, like jealousy and fear. Aphrodite for instance is portraying all the symptoms of a normal worried, over protective mother. She is afraid that because Cupid has found another woman that is as beautiful as she is, she might lose the affection of her son. The other goddesses that Psyche goes to for help are fearful to help her because they know the damage that Aphrodite can put on them, but in the same way they are careful to defend Cupid because of the love spells he could potentially put on them, causing even more god drama.
One thing that I might have just missed or wasn't explained was why doesn't Cupid want Psyche to see him in the first place? If he had just let her see him she wouldn't have been capable of being tempted by her sisters into sneaking around in the dark trying to see him and potentially trying to kill him. The only way that I can make it make sense in my head is to make it a trust issue, by saying if you trust me you won't need to see me. Even then, I don't know why she would trust him.
The human characters and the roles they play remind me in a way of Cinderella. The jealous evil sisters plotting to destroy the life of their beautiful younger sister, only to get spited in the end. At first Psyche didn't seem like the brightest crayon in the box, but by the end and how she got her revenge was rather masterful and clever. I think that Psyche's character has lived long past this story of her, and one of the messages she gives is one that is still thought of today. She says that being beautiful does not necessarily make life easier but on the contrary, draws more attention to her and thus making it easier to point out her flaws. It's seems that she almost wishes her beauty to be not so great even though that's what has made her so famous, both amongst humans and gods.

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